New allegations of fondling by ex-deputy

There are new developments in the case of a former deputy constable accused of inappropriately touching a woman during an arrest.

That same deputy has just been indicted on a charge of having sexual contact with a person in custody, and this involves a different woman.

The indictment was delivered Monday by a Harris County grand jury. The charge is improper sexual contact with a person is custody.

Until last September, Christopher Kerr was a Precinct 3 deputy constable. He resigned that month after being accused in August by a woman he had pulled over on a traffic stop on the beltway. She claims he fondled her in the back of his patrol car. The case is still under investigation.

But now Kerr is under indictment on similar allegations, but a different complainant. That case allegedly happened in July of last year, a month before the earlier allegation. A woman claims that Kerr took her into custody and fondled her.

The district attorney's office would not comment on the indictment. Neither would Precinct 3, which turned over the results of its investigation to the DA's police integrity review unit. That unit in turn presented the case to the grand jury.

Attorney and KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy says two similar allegations present a problem for the ex-deputy.

"Unless you're talking about DNA or any other type of scientific evidence, generally cops are believed," Androphy said. "But when a cop has done it more than once, it's no longer a 'he said/she said.' It's 'they said/he said' and 'they' takes it to a different level."